Past Times: Multiple airmen with Barksdale ties die

1938: Second local cabbie abducted within a week

3:55 AM,
Sep. 21, 2013

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Written by

John Andrew Prime

Sept. 21 was a bad day to read news about Barksdale in the past, for little of it was good, at least during World War II.

On this day in 1942, readers learned of the deaths of three fliers when their B-26A bomber crashed and burned in a swampy area near Plain Dealing. The dead were 2nd Lt. Burton Basten, 2nd Lt. Harold Kester and Staff Sgt. George Chandler. Average age: 23. One crew member parachuted and survived, uninjured save for bumps and scratches. That was Cpl. Norman O. Black.